Opinion – The World is a Ball: The center forward’s choice

Center forward. In etymology, center + onwards. The central forward, or forward. One of the most important, if not the most important, positions in football.

Why? Because this is the guy whose job it is to score goals, which are the essence of football. He lives off of it. Without goals, he will be unemployed for some time.

The also called goal-man (or “killer”) is the player who is, or should be, almost always in the opponent’s area.

Near the rival goal. Centralized, waiting for a pass or cross that gives you the opportunity to do what you know best: finish.

The team that has a quality striker must value it a lot. It is not an abundant article in the ball market.

There are many, but those that do give back are few. And those that pay off for a long time are even scarcer.

Several teams lack a centre-forward, a 9 shirt that resolves, that decides, that each game leaves its mark.

The Brazilian team is an example.​

At the 2018 World Cup, Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino were called up for the position. None, however, has the characteristics of the traditional center forward.

They can even play centrally and position themselves in the opposing area, but today it is very clear that Jesus acts better on the sides of the field (especially on the right) and that Firmino stands out more when he retreats to arm attacks.

Merit to Tite, Brazil achieves good results even without the squad of a center forward.

History shows that it is possible to win with or without him – in the 1970 World Cup, Tostão, an attacking midfielder, played improvised and it worked.

I’m sure Tite doesn’t climb a center forward not because he doesn’t want to, but because he can’t spot one that fits decently.

If the Polish Lewandowski were Brazilian, wouldn’t he be the first-place holder of the selection? The Belgian Lukaku? The French Benzema? The Norwegian Haaland?

These are the hottest strikers of the moment, according to the list of competitors for the 2021 selection released by FFIPro, the global union of professional footballers.

The players themselves, from all corners of the world, cast their votes. The result will be announced in January, at the awarding of “The Best” by FIFA.

All four are excellent. But which is “most excellent”?

Lewandowski, the best in the world in 2020, seems to be today, in theory, by observation week by week, superior to the others. Is it really, in practice?

In the comparison made in this text, a single criterion will determine the choice.

This criterion, objective, is the goals per minute made from January 1st to December 25th of this year, in matches valid by competition – friendlies are out.

Does the total number of goals matter? Yes, but whoever plays longer has more chances to score.

Are assists relevant? Yes, but the main function of a center forward is to score the goal, not to pass into the goal.

Goals per minute are, in my opinion, a factor that measures the efficiency of a center forward. That’s why it’s the criterion adopted now.

Karim Benzema – 34 years old – Right-handed – Real Madrid and French national team. Minutes: 4,988 (the equivalent of 55.4 games). Goals: 47. One goal every 106 minutes.

Robert Lewandowski – 33 years old – Right-handed – Bayern Munich and Polish national team. Minutes: 4,876 (the equivalent of 54.2 games). Goals: 69. One goal every 71 minutes.

Erling Haaland – 21 years old – Left-handed – Borussia Dortmund and Norwegian team. Minutes: 4,167 (the equivalent of 46.3 games). Goals: 48. One goal every 87 minutes.

Romelu Lukaku – 28 years old – Left-handed – Inter Milan/Chelsea and Belgian national team. Minutes: 3,919 (the equivalent of 43.5 games). Goals: 30. One goal every 131 minutes.

Haaland and Lukaku spent less time on the field due to injuries in the second half of this year. Which, according to the established criteria, makes no difference.​

Without further ado, Lewandowski is suspected to be the most effective center forward on this court in 2021, followed by young Haaland, Benzema and Lukaku.